Readings/ 5th Sunday of Elijah

Quote of the Week

But this kind is not cast out, except through prayer and fasting

Fifth Sunday of Elijah

October 08, 2017

First Reading/ Isaiah 26: 1-9

A reading from the book of Isaiah Barikh-Mar

That day, this song will be sung in Judah: ‘We have a fortress city, the walls and ramparts provide safety. Open the gates! Let the upright nation come in, the nation that keeps faith! This is the plan decreed: you will guarantee peace, the peace entrusted to you. Trust in Yahweh forever, for Yahweh is a rock forever. He has brought low the dwellers on the heights, the lofty citadel; he lays it low, brings it to the ground, flings it down in the dust. It will be trodden under foot, by the feet of the needy, the steps of the weak.’ The path of the Upright One is honesty; you smooth the honest way of the upright. Following the path of your judgments, Yahweh, we set our hopes in you, your name, your memory are all our soul desires. At night my soul longs for you and my spirit within me seeks you out; for when your judgments appear on earth the inhabitants of the world learn what saving justice is .Amen.

Second Reading / Phil 3: 1- 8

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to Philippians: Barikh-Mar

Finally, brothers, I wish you joy in the Lord. To write to you what I have already written before is no trouble to me and to you will be a protection. Beware of dogs! Beware of evil workmen! Beware of self-mutilators! We are the true people of the circumcision since we worship by the Spirit of God and make Christ Jesus our only boast, not relying on physical qualifications, although, I myself could rely on these too. If anyone does claim to rely on them, my claim is better.

Circumcised on the eighth day of my life, I was born of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrew parents. In the matter of the Law, I was a Pharisee; as for religious fervor, I was a persecutor of the Church; as for the uprightness embodied in the Law, I was faultless. But what were once my assets I now through Christ Jesus count as losses. Yes, I will go further: because of the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I count everything else as loss. For him I have accepted the loss of all other things, and look on them all as filth if only I can gain Christ.

The grace and peace be with you all brothers. Amen.

Third Reading/ Mt 17: 14- 21

A reading from the Gospel of Saint Matthew.

And when he had arrived at the multitude, a man approached him, falling to his knees before him, saying: “Lord, take pity on my son, for he is an epileptic, and he suffers harm. For he frequently falls into fire, and often also into water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to cure him.” Then Jesus responded by saying: “What an unbelieving and perverse generation! How long shall I be with you? How long shall I endure you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon went out of him, and the boy was cured from that hour. Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why were we unable to cast him out?” Jesus said to them: “Because of your unbelief. Amen I say to you, certainly, if you will have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move. And nothing will be impossible for you. But this kind is not cast out, except through prayer and fasting.” And when they were conversing together in Galilee, Jesus said to them: “The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.